1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer software. More specifically, the present invention relates to software used to create a computer model of a utility network system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term computer-aided design (CAD) generally refers to a broad variety of computer-based tools used by architects, engineers, and other construction and design professionals. CAD applications may be used to construct computer models representing virtually any real-world construct. Commonly, CAD applications are used to generate computer models and drawings related to utility networks. For example, a CAD application may be used to compose a model of a connected system of pipes, electrical, or HVAC ductwork components. The models may be used to create a variety of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) views of the utility network. Additionally, such models may be used to generate construction, engineering, and other documentation related to the utility network such as bills of materials, requirements, etc.
Currently, CAD applications may be configured to display drawing components in a CAD drawing using different levels of detail. For example, a model of a large diameter pipe connected to a boiler system will typically be designed and specified in great detail (actual pipe runs, joining elements, dimensions, etc.), while a small copper water line may only be modeled with enough detail to provide general routing specifications. Two drawing representations for a pipe network include 1-line and 2-line display representations. Drawing all components as “2-line” representations (2-line means to draw the pipe using two lines representing the actual diameter of the pipe) tends to clutter up the drawing and can cause confusion when trying to read the drawing. For this reason users may draw some pipe networks using “1-line” representations (1-line is a single line representation showing the actual length of the piping, the actual diameter is only known by labeling the pipe with the size). The decision to represent a using component using a 2-line or 1-line display representation is typically a matter of user discretion where the user must expressly select which components should be rendered using full 3D elements or 2-line display representations and which should be rendered using 1-line representations when constructing the CAD drawing. One drawback of this approach is that if the display representation of an element in a CAD drawing needs to be changed, the user must manually delete the elements from the CAD drawing and replace it with an element that uses the desired display representation. The process of deleting and replacing CAD elements is both tedious and time consuming and often results in mistakes and confusion when drafting the CAD drawing.
Accordingly, there is a need for a CAD application that allows users to compose a CAD drawing of a utility network that is selectively rendered using multiple display representations within the same CAD drawing, and that further allows the display representation for at least some selected components to change, without requiring the user to redraft the complete CAD drawing.